It was built entirely out of straw bales that were reinforced with steel trusses.

The strawbale building replaces a previous theater used to entertain soviet troops, which has been abandoned for two decades. NO99 explores the possibility of reinvigorating this historically important site in a sustainable, but still dramatic way. Perched high on a hill, the theater is long, rectangular, and wraps around a moderate grade.

Because it is only designed for summer use, Salto made no arrangements to cover or insulate the building. Instead, they left it raw, reinforced the straw bales with stable steel trusses, and spray-painted it black. Also included on the site, increasing its earth-loving appeal, are numerous outdoor activities including an oversized chess board, table tennis, swings, and a baking oven. We love this project: although it’s not super fancy and doesn’t incorporate high-flying technology, it is definitely borne out of a respect for nature. And ultimately, that’s what we’re all about.

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1 Comment

moudanDecember 4, 2011 at 2:41 pm

Nice idea and design. Seems to be lot of work just for temporary structure – besides if plastered it can just stay where it is…
I would like to comment on two things in the article – ,,no arrangements to cover or insulate the building” – straw is insulation it self :-). And ,,reinforce the straw bales with steel trusses” – if good quality and well compressed strawbales are used, they can be even load bearing, therefor it would not be necessary to ,,reinforce” them.
Well done to use natural materials in public structure!